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Senior Citizens’ Support Corps programme – Safety wristbands

Senior Citizens’ Support Corps programme – Safety wristbands

Summary

The programme aims to improve safety and enable independent functioning of older persons in their place of residence. Safety wristbands transmit alarms to the monitoring centre, which, upon receiving a notification, takes appropriate actions. The programme is aimed at Stargard residents aged 65 and over who have difficulties living independently due to their health condition.

Key facts

Main target group: Older people with chronic health conditions or disability

Sector(s): Health, Information and communication, Long-term care

Other sector(s): Ageing in the community, health-promoting behaviours, inclusion

Desired outcome for older people:
Be mobile

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:
  • Accessibility
  • Ageing in place
  • Inequities
  • Inclusion
  • Technologies

Contact details

Name: KATARZYNA HAWRYSZKÓW-BUTKOWSKA

Email address: k.butkowska@um.stargard.pl

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Local authorities

Others involved in the project:
  • Social or health care provider

How collaboration worked: The Senior Citizens’ Support Corps programme is announced annually by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. 80% of the programme is funded from the state budget in the form of a target grant. After adopting the protective programme, the Municipality – City of Stargard – receives a grant from the state budget and ensures funding for at least 20% of the project’s costs. The City Family Welfare Centre in Stargard coordinates, monitors and supervises the implementation of the project.

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: To prepare for the implementation of the Senior Citizens’ Support Corps programme for the year 2023 and to develop a local protective programme resulting from it, the City Social Welfare Centre conducted a needs assessment among older persons aged 65 and over who have been using safety wristbands up to January 2024. The questionnaire survey was conducted among residents of the City of Stargard.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: No

Do you plan to evaluate your age-friendly practice? Yes

Feedback:
The safety wristbands work great for the Stargard citizens. The devices monitor the users’ health around the clock and transmit alarm notifications – e.g. in the event of a fall or cardiac arrest. Last year, 136 people benefited from them. The wristbands are effective, as evidenced by last year’s statistics – 67 older persons used the SOS button and 23 of them required ambulance assistance. In addition, telephone support was provided 370 times.

Expansion plans:
The implementation of this project is also planned in the following years, as well as increasing the quantity of safety wristbands according to demand. In 2024, the City Welfare Centre plans to purchase an additional 25 safety wristbands.

Looking back

Reflections:
Wristbands have proven to be a good option for both older persons who live by themselves and those who live with family but value their independence. In life-threatening situations, the wristband will do its job and alert the relevant services.

Challenges:
The biggest challenge we see at the moment is the funding for this project. As of today, 80 per cent of this project is funded from the state budget. We plan to apply for such funding for the next few years as well, but we must expect to have to find another way of funding it.